Pharmacy
Ring BustedPrescriptions
written in Crayons filled by Pharmacy

MAR 22 -
NEW YORK, NY (March 22, 2007) – John P. Gilbride, Special Agent
in Charge of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced the take down
of a pharmaceutical drug ring that included more than 28 residents
of Nassau County and Queens County.

Special Agent in
Charge John P. Gilbride said, “Diverting pharmaceuticals is a
crime. And in this case, the drug deals occurred behind a Pharmacy
counter. Thousands of fraudulent prescriptions were being filled in
order to fuel prescription drug abuse. In the last five years prescription
drug abuse has risen more than two thirds nationwide, it is the DEA’s
responsibility to work with out law enforcement partners to monitor
prescriptions and ensure that legitimate pharmaceuticals are not diverted
for illegitimate abuse.”

Howard Topchik,
the ring’s leader, was charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled
Substance in the First Degree. Mr. Topchik and his wife were the owners
of Terrace Pharmacy in Oceanside, a business that sold nearly twice
the amount of the powerful painkiller Vicodin as the average pharmacy
in the United States in 2005. Vicoden is a brand of hydrocodone, a
powerful and potentially addictive painkiller that can have a street
value of anywhere between $2 and $4 per pill. Terrace Pharmacy sold
almost three times more than the average pharmacy in the State of New
York during that time period. The pharmacy was sold to CVS in April
2006.

The pharmacy’s
inordinate sale of Vicodin was uncovered by investigators during an
investigation into a series of burglaries and one armed robbery that
had occurred at the pharmacy between October and December of 2005.

Terrace Pharmacy
sold more than 149,300 doses of the prescription drug in 2005. The
drugs were purchased with phony prescriptions that in some cases were
photocopies of originals or had changes in patient’s name. Some
prescriptions even included crayon writing or names other than the
customer’s. The investigation revealed that Mr. Topchik rarely,
if ever, asked for identification and sometimes didn’t even bother
to look at the prescription at all. All sales were cash transactions.

Many of the 27
defendants charged with Forgery in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession
of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree have been debriefed by
the District Attorney’s Office and some have been given the option
of drug treatment, if deemed appropriate.

Mr. Topchik faces
a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges.